Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-12-03

Vohnlnleu IlOth me Census Maps of 1S-0 ar
 Notes ot tne botanists with II. Wh-eler's E1peditlons, by John A. Spring.J
 lCOnclusIon.l
 The valley of the Colorado Chiquitc
 though ss yet hardly under the domsr
 of agriculture, nigh, be expected t,
 produce large crops Of grain, frlit an,
 vegetables when once water is furnishe,
 by irrigation. Indeed, at ,he foo, of th,
 Mogollon mesa, and for some distanc,
 ap the slopes, We may infer that the con
 densstion of moisture by the hiRhe
 peaks might make B possible to avoiC
 the necessity of irrigation. Timber i.
 close st hand.
 Salt River valley Is known to produe,
 well and has unquestionsbIy a great iu
 ture before it. The San Pedro sno
 Santa Cruz valleys have already thoa.
 ssndes of acres under cultivation and
 produce good crops of wheat, barley auo corn. Vegetables msy be raised sue cessfully during almost the entire year
 The same may be said of the Gils valley proper, which furnishes many instances of splendid return for labor.
 The Sonoita valley, cn the southarn border of the territory, though if has some land which may be irrigated and which IS of surpassing fertility, must be regarded as rather a grazing than A farming region. IL is well grassed and has timber close at hand. This (Hs also the Ban Pedro) had formerly the uufor- innate reputation of being somewhatun. healthy regions. The fscI, however. is that the epidemic diseases are such as give 6 low rate of mortality, and may be readily prevented. It IS fair to make the statement that neither are now worse thsn were Indiana or Illinois few years sgo.-(Dr. Loew.)
 The reglons of the San Francisco mountains are said by Dr. Loew to be we'll wstered, fertile, snd most suitable for farming homes. He adds: The soil IS comparatively very rich in phosphoric aoid, and therefore most excellent for gram and corD; for bears, peas and ientls, an addition of gypsum would De an improvement, these requiring more sulphur"
 It's now we'll proven that almost all the elements of plant life must pass through The roots and thence ascend to the leaves 70 undergo elaboration previous to the nnal acts of. metsstssis. Hence it fol lows that under the dry air and high temperature where water is given the processes otplant life must be very active and that, (ss in almost all parts of this Territory s)vhere abundant food is SUD- plied, and of proper quality, either di- rectly from the soil, or by the water used m fTrigating, or by both, enormous re- turns may be anticipated. Facts do not controvert the conclusion, as a compari- son of the yield per acre, of cereals or of garden vegetables, between say Kansas or Nebrssks, Cor even an older, better tiled stste,) snd some portions of Ari- zon and New Mexico.
 The astonishing rapidity of growth at tsined. and the gigantic size of melons, pumpkIns etc, obtained st Yuma and iss surrounding regions where irrigation Is obtained from the Colorado river is exp plsined by 8 comparative analysis made by Dr. Loew of the Rio Colorado. mud with the Nile mud. The compari- son shows more potsssa for the mud of the Colorado river. but less phosphoric scid, whilst the Nile mud has B greater AbsoTbtive power for moisture thsn the Colorado, because of it's greater quantity of hydrated oxide of iron. Except the material thus conveyed, the iilled lands along the Colorado river, have had no other fertilizer, and this fact confirms Mr. Loev's statement that the water is the all sufficient source of supply.
 Our indigenous grasses, though some vhst localized ID their distri button gen orally. may be sand 10 form & dense swsrd after & rich rainy season, and even when dry, are exceedingly nutritious, md stock will make long marches having DO other food. Among them We may allude to the Bouselas of Arizona where the different ipecies, without much distinction, are ,alled "gramma." The analysis of one species, dead and dry, but without loss ,t nuiritive properties, gave thisi result: